Within hours of the appearance, a Biden aid felt the need to clarify the comments and senior Obama campaign advisor David Axelrod tweeted, “What VP said – that all married couples should have exactly the same legal rights – is precisely POTUS’s position,” a comment that Katie felt came off as “pathetic, desperate and spineless.”

Today, as the fallout continues and that political spin machine continues to churn out explanations, clarifications, and rationalizations, TPM has a great piece exploring the question on every Obama-loving liberal’s mind: what would actually happen if Obama supported gay marriage?Evan Mcmorris Santo writes:

But even if Obama does complete the evolution in the way most expect — an eventual endorsement of marriage equality — what, exactly, would it accomplish, beyond a symbolic victory for same-sex marriage activists? Not a whole lot, believe gay rights groups and observers.

It’s an interesting footnote to the debate over Obama’s stance on gay marriage — the fact is, Obama’s basically doing all the things marriage equality advocates want him to do already. Even if he is doing it without saying explicitly whether he supports marriage rights for LGBT couples.

The whole piece is a worth a read if you’re following the fallout from Biden’s comments yesterday. We’ve written before about the limitations of focusing solely on gay marriage in the fight for LGBTQ rights- Jos has called it “an assimilationist approach to gaining rights and acceptance.” But there’s something to be said for exploring the strategy and motivation of a Democratic candidate who won’t openly support it, and this piece has some good information and insight into that decision.

Brooklyn, NY

Lori Adelman is a writer and advocate focusing on race, gender, and sexual and reproductive rights. In addition to her work at Feministing, Lori is an Associate Director at Planned Parenthood Global. Lori has previously worked at the United Nations Foundation, the International Women’s Health Coalition, and Human Rights Watch, and has written for a host of print and digital properties including Rookie Magazine, The Grio, and the New York Times Magazine. She regularly appears on radio and television, and has spoken at college campuses across the U.S. about topics like the politics of black hair, transnational movement building, and the undercover feminism of Nicki Minaj. In 2014, she was named to The Root 100 list of the nation's most influential African Americans, and to the Forbes Magazine list of the "30 Under 30" successful people in media.

Lori Adelman is an Executive Director of Feministing in charge of Partnerships.

Trans activist, writer, whistleblower, and all-round badass Chelsea Manning‘s legal team has filed a clemency application asking President Obama to reduce her sentence to the six-plus years she has already served at the maximum security U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth.

Trans activist, writer, whistleblower, and all-round badass Chelsea Manning‘s legal team has filed a clemency application asking President Obama to reduce her sentence to the six-plus years she has already served at the maximum ...

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